1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a method, process and apparatus for repairing and repainting vehicles and vehicle components, specifically auto body repair and vehicle body components. This invention more particularly relates to a method and process for reducing vehicle painting preparation time and eliminating material and waste material in the repair and repainting process and also to a vehicle component support stand which simulates the mounting of the body components on a vehicle to reduce time and expenses in the component repair and replacement process.
2. Description of the Related Art
A substantial number of facilities provide services such as auto body repair, customization and restoration services. In such facilities it is often necessary to paint all or part of the vehicle and certain body components. In most cases in which a high-quality repair and paint finish are desired, the need arises to separate body components and accessories such as fenders, bumpers, hood, door and trunk as well as trim pieces for the painting process. Disassembly, or tear down, of component body parts and accessories on the vehicle is generally undertaken to ensure the high-quality repair and paint finish is applied to specific body components and panel surfaces as well as to the under surface and surrounding edges of each of the body components and panels.
It is well known that to achieve a high-quality paint job, repaired parts must first be repaired and then primed on the vehicle, after which they are prepped and then refinished with base and clear coats in the spray booth. In the case of replacement parts, the part itself is prepped, sealed, and jambed. Once this process is complete, the new panel is hung on the vehicle and the entire vehicle is brought into the booth. The vehicle must be masked in order to prevent any overspray from landing on unwanted areas of the vehicle. Only then can the new panel have the base and clear coats applied. In a typical painting facility of the type used in vehicle repair and repainting, a separate enclosed painting booth is usually provided. The spray booth helps to control the painting environment and provide necessary lighting and ventilation for the painting application. In addition, filtering systems operative in the spray booth minimize the amount of dust or other airborne particles within the environment. In addition, one or more air driven spray guns each coupled to a supply of compressed air by flexible hoses is operated by the painter to apply the paint to the body components and vehicle.
High quality and high-gloss mirror like finishes, in particular metallic paint finishes, are often made more difficult by the plurality of curved and faceted components typical of modern vehicle body parts. A major factor in achieving skillful painting results is the proper provision of lighting together with the ability to arrange and orient the body components in a desired manner. A skilled painter watches the light reflected off the body component during the painting to gauge proper application of paint.
In cases in which the entire vehicle is not brought into the booth, a paint stand would be used to hold the body components being painted. Paint stands for articles or body components being painted would ideally avoid entanglement with spray gun hoses and properly align body components which makes it easier to paint a piece. The currently available stands however do not allow easy alignment and orientation of body panels just as they would be on the vehicle when the vehicle is in an operable driveable state. Generally it is known in the art that in order to provide an appropriate paint finish, in particular a metallic paint finish which includes metal flakes in the paint itself, the component body parts which are to be painted must be placed back onto the vehicle and the entire vehicle placed inside the spray booth so that parts can be painted in their true orientation on the vehicle and permit appropriate blending with adjacent components and panels.
With the entire vehicle inside the spray booth it is also necessary to tape, paper and bag the entire vehicle, specifically covering and protecting the vehicle surfaces which are not to be sprayed or painted. This involves a substantial amount of adhesive masking tape to tape all surfaces and edges which do not require paint and to affix sheets of paper to certain critical areas around the vehicle which are not to receive paint such as windows, mirrors etc. Additionally, it is conventional to place a large bag or plastic sheet over the remainder of the vehicle including the wheels and parts of the undercarriage in order to eliminate any over-spray from the painting process which could contact other portions of the vehicle. This takes a tremendous amount of time, often more than one hour per vehicle, as well as tremendous amounts on the order of hundreds of square feet of paper, tape and plastic sheeting.
There exist painting stands for vehicle parts such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,158,701 which discloses a painting stand for painting a fender. While the prior devices such as those described in the '701 patent provide some improvement in the art and in some instances have had certain commercial success, they are limited in their functionality and are subject to numerous faults. There are stands which permit for the mounting of multiple panels at the same time, but they do not provide for alignment and orientation of the body parts with immediately adjacent body parts to be blended and/or painted during the repair process just as if the components were on the vehicle.
There remains an unresolved and unfulfilled need in the art for a more efficient, cost-effective, versatile process for repairing and repainting vehicles which does not include preparing the whole vehicle for painting by masking and bagging the entire vehicle, and which allows and provides a stand which can simulate the appropriate alignment and orientation of the vehicle components and panels and which is easily movable and takes up less space in a conventional painting booth.